Saturday, April 16, 2011

Grilling

I LOVE warm weather. I LOVE food..so naturally being able to cook outside and enjoy the warmth... I love to grill. I'm learning how to grill bone in chicken, but I'm not that great at it yet...it's my nemesis. However, I still get out there and cook up brats, hot dogs, chicken breast but my favorite grilling is grilled pizza. I enjoy pizza and so grilled pizza is only better..

And before I start I wanted to mention yeast. I used to get a little aprehensive about using yeast because I was afraid of not doing it right and because it's kind of expensive. But I have solved both problems. I have a cheap coffee thermometer I pick up at Starbuck's on clearance. I just stick in the water/milk before I add the yeast. Then I discovered that they sell yeast in bulk at the health food stores. I don't buy anymore than I used to and pay a fourth of the price. For $ 1.13I can have the same amount that I would pay $4.50+ for at Walmart.I just kept the jars from the last time I bought it and refill it with my cheap yeast.

I start with the sauce...and I should follow a recipe but...I don't. I found some yummy fire roasted tomatoes by Mur Glen Organics and thought how great would those be for grilled pizza! So I used my immersion blender and pureed them up a bit and threw in some italian season, honey, parsley, basil, pepper, and sea salt.

I was looking for a dough recipe that was closer to Pizza Hut's (my husband could live on their Pan Pizza). I had also been looking for recipes that I could use evaporated milk (my sister gave me some cans). I found out that you can use evaporated milk in almost any baking recipe and simply put half evaporated milk and half water to make up whatever your amount of milk that is called for. So I came across two similar recipes and joined the two ideas.

Here is the first recipe I found, it is for Pizza Hut Pan Pizza. I like it but it needs more salt. I have never tried the sauce recipe. The other recipe I found is for Artisan Pizza Crust. The biggest difference in this recipe is that it allows for a 24 hour "fermentation," like a sour dough, and that is calls for milk. I like the idea of allowing the dough to sit for a while but do to procrastination and indecision, I haven't tried that yet. But I was looking around and found an interesting little entry that affirmed that fermenting is a great way to get a better crust. So here's the combined recipe that I DO use:

2 1/4 tsp yeast (1 of those little packages is the same amount)

1 Tbl sugar

1 1/4 c milk

1 Tbl salt

3-3 1/2 c flour

2 Tbl

So I warmed the milk on the stove up to 110-120.

Add to oil and sugar and salt.

Making sure that the milk is not above the 120, I add it to 1 cup flour and the yeast.

Add in flour until it is nicely incorporated and smooth. Here you can either turn out your dough and kneed or if your mixer is up to it you can also just let your mixer keep going for a few minutes (make sure you're using your hook!). (All of this is VERY doable by hand as well.)

Then just cover it with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 20 min or 24 hours. OR you can use it right away or stick it in the fridge for later!

Pizza is great for entertaining because you can make it ahead of time. Grilled pizza is only better because you can make your dough ahead of time, get it rolled out and stacked and prep your toppings and then everyone can build their own personal pizzas and it's so very fast.

This recipe I divide into 8 pizzas. I rolled them out pretty thin, about 1/4 in or so. This recipe easily feeds 6 or more adults. I stack the discs with some flour is in between each one.

So I get all my prep together, cheese, sauce(s), toppings, and a small custard cup with olive oil and a brush and metal spatula.

Make sure grill is hot before you start.

I brush the dough before it goes on and then the other side after I put it on. The dough is easier to work with if it was refrigerated after rolled into the discs. These got a little warm and the one on the right got stretched a little to much when I was pulling it off the stack.

I put my fire at a medium low. 2-4 minutes on each side

These pizzas I made pepperoni and tomato sauce as well as some buffalo chicken with ranch sauce.

After turrned once I throw the toppings on.

If I have problems getting the cheese to melt I close the lid for a min. If I'm afraid of the crust burning I throw it on the top rack and close the lid.

2 comments:

Yum! We do pizza all the time, but I've never grilled it. That looks amazing. We usually use various meats and veggies leftover from the week, but a couple favorite toppings are spinach pesto and bacon.